Thread: Bunnings to open specialty tool chain

Yeah, I reckon Total Tools is their target. Carbatec/Timbecon/Carrolls is way too small a market for them to be interested in.

They own Blackwoods the industrial supplier so the Tradie market will be what they are after. I don't think I have ever seen anyone buy a power tool from Bunnings but maybe I am not observant enough. I wonder why they don't just buy an existing chain as it removes a competitor straight away and it can't be a cheap thing to start from scratch. This was most probably a taster to see how things went Hardware giant Bunnings buys Adelaide Tools

I wonder if their prices will be different to their main stores, if they're lower they will run into price guarantee issues. My guess is they will sell different stuff at the specialty shop.

RE: Never seen any one buying a power tool at Bunnings.
The small bunnings nearer our place is a bit like that but at the warehouse 5km further away I've see stuff go out the door by the trolley load. A few weeks back at around 7am saw a tradie wheeling a trolley full including loads of batteries out past the trade desk . When I commented he said his ute was broken into overnight and all his gear was gone and he had an urgent job to complete and couldn't afford to muck about.

The product line they currently run in Bunnings will be different products to those aimed at tradies not the DIY line in their stores currently.
Total Tools and Sydney Tools pretty much have the market covered so will be interesting to see how it goes.
The challenge they will have is that Total Tools are franchised so you are dealing with owner operators and Sydney Tools runs a tight knit of staff so are quite good too.
It will be interesting to see how a bigger clumsy organisation like Bunnings will go getting in favour with the tradies

This will be interesting, we only have around 200,000 people here, 3 Big Green Sheds, Blackwood's, United Tools, Total Tools, A Man's Toyshop and now Sydney Tools. One Mitre 10 and one private hardware store. 4 bolt and fastener shops that sell power tools as well.
We are all wondering who will go belly up first.
Rgds,
Crocy.

Interesting development, Bunnings recently bought Adelaide Tools ( due to the owner retiring ) Adelaide tools is competition in SA for the likes of Total Tools, maybe a expansion is in the wind

Some time ago I was in the market for a Makita pin nailer, battery and charger ( I had no Makita cordless tools). Total tools and Sydney tools had a special deal on the battery and charger. The pin nailer was the same price at Sydney Tools and Total tools and Bunnings would match it (wasn’t a stocked item) but they couldn’t match the price on the battery and charger. As it was not an item they regularly stocked they said they didn’t have to match the price. I found the same story on a Makita SCMS - they couldn’t match the price that I got at my local hardware. Once again, it wasn’t a regularly stocked item. Wonder if things will change if they open a dedicated tool store?

Last year (middle of COVID) while looking for a SCMS all the stores had the same price but no one had the one I wanted in stock. As I have a Bunnings trade card I ordered one through Bunnings for the paltry couple of % price reduction it offered. After 10 days they called me to say they would not be getting any for a couple of months so do I want my money back. Well - that turned into a drama as it cost just over $1000 and refunds of that amount required triplicate sign off including the store manager who absent from the store. In the end and after much phaphing about they refunded me in two separate amounts.

All other stores had supply problems so I asked them to call me when they had stock. The only store that let me know was a local Total Tools store who contacted me 3 weeks before the stock arrived and kept me updated on the exact date.

Originally Posted by China

Interesting development, Bunnings recently bought Adelaide Tools ( due to the owner retiring ) Adelaide tools is competition in SA for the likes of Total Tools, maybe a expansion is in the wind

That is exactly their plan. A big article in this morning's paper.

Every morning when I turn on the computer to look up the Forum there are Email Brochures of "sales" from Carba-Tec, Hare and Forbes, Total Tools, Super Cheap, Timbecon, and to a lesser degree Pen State Industries, Able Sales, Kaka Industries, etc. I do have a quick browse through them but only occasionally I might buy something.

By the volume of "Sales" they advertise hints to me that they all are trying to wring out as much as they can from the market.

Living in country NSW it was always difficult to look at a particular item "in the flesh" because the local hardware stores didn't keep stock. So if one was after something you had to go to a capital city (Sydney or Brisbane) or go to one of the Woodworking Shows to view what you had in mind. We now have a Total Tools store in Tamworth (the franchise was bought by a local Hardware company) There range is impressive but they don't really go into specialist tools/machinery for Woodworking. They seem to go for fast moving stock (understandable). We have a big Bunnings, Local Hardware TBS, 6 bearing/nut/bolt shops (3 are owned by one local company) Rural shops that sell a smattering of tools and we have a area population of about 80,000. A mate's son works for Total Tools on the weekends and he says to cover costs they need $15,000 of sales per day, and they do it easily according to the fella.

Its an interesting fact that when Bunnings came to town about 25 years ago, the only local Hardware, Tamworth Building Supplies which had been going for probably 15 years actually was able to grow to a good size even with Bunnings.

Originally Posted by chambezio

Its an interesting fact that when Bunnings came to town about 25 years ago, the only local Hardware, Tamworth Building Supplies which had been going for probably 15 years actually was able to grow to a good size even with Bunnings.

That is generally the case everywhere including Sydney, Bunnings does not take much of the builders and tradies market, they are awkward and clumsy to deal with apart from the convenience of picking something off the shelf.
The smaller owner operated hardware and timber stores can easily match them on price on most product and smash them for service and product knowledge.
I did have a job recently that we used sheet particle board flooring and the local suppliers cannot even buy it for the price Bunnings sell it for so there is the odd anomaly

Bunnings target market is the homeowners and DIY crowd as they are easy to manage

Wow, a few crystal balls getting a good rub here! Bunnings get a huge share of the trade market in NSW. All the small stores hate them. The little guys are bending over backwards to retain their hard-won customers but slowly and surely they are being lost to the BGS. Sad but true.
As cumbersome Bunnings may appear to be, their marketing strategy has paid off. DIY and home handyman customers have arrived in droves to happily shell out their hard earned money at full retail price. Now that market has been pretty much stiched up, it is time to look at trade. After all, there isn't much else in Australia to chase other than export.
Who will they gobble up? Could be anybody or nobody. For my money, Sydney Tools is ripe for a shake up.

I also receive emails almost daily from tool stores holding sales or offering free freight etc. Etc. but in many cases there are stock problems.
Classic example is the latest from Carbatec re free freight. I’ve been looking at a small to medium bandsaw so I though now is the time with free freight. I couldn’t buy one though because they were all “coming soon” or “ out of stock”
Timbercon is another with super sales but many items you want to buy are marked “out of stock” . I remember one sale that listed glues On sale which is a classic example - Titebond small bottles, bulk containers all in stock but your regular 473ml “out of stock”
Our local Bunnings is a joke. You have to ring up every time to check stock. The website states in stock but when you get there it’s not. I can’t remember the last time I went there with a list and was able to purchase everything on the list.
I now use my local hardware more than Bunnings and their car park is often full. Sure, they don’t have the range of Bunnies at my local store but they can get most things in and have free home delivery from any of their stores and some are huge.

Someone mentioned Total Tools in an earlier post, did you know the franchise almost 50% owned by Metcash, while Sydney Tools is a private family owned business.

I believe that both Gasweld and United Tools are franchise businesses.

On another note of interest, a good number of Bunnings tool range are exclusively made for Bunnings including a number of the major brands.

The local "tinpot" Bunnings is reopening it's Timber Trade Yard; I suspect to try to lurer the tradies back from Hudsons, Jays Jays and Kings Mitre 10.

Peter [aka lappa] at least you have Hardware & General who used to be a very good trade hardware supplier!